Diwali 2.0: The transformational marketing strategies for a digitised era

In the post-Covid landscape, Indian consumers have exhibited a remarkable shift in their approach to festive shopping. The traditional in-person shopping sprees are now being seamlessly blended with the convenience of online shopping, creating a harmonious and holistic festive experience like never before.

In the wake of this transformation, marketers find themselves at crossroads, facing the imperative to adapt and embrace these evolving consumer preferences. In a world where convenience, variety, and attractive offers drive consumer decisions, the art of crafting emotional connections during festivals has never been more crucial. This Diwali, brands are challenged to conjure imaginative and resonating campaigns that resonate with the deepest sentiments of the people.

In this feature report, Adgully delves deep into the Diwali 2.0 phenomenon, uncovering the strategies, innovations, and the consumer trends that are redefining the way we celebrate the Festival of Lights.

Consumer behaviour

It is important to understand how Diwali-related ad spending has evolved in recent years. The digitally savvy modern consumer demands more. It is not enough for brands to just capture their hearts; they must also provide engaging and immersive experiences, both online and offline, to meet the demands of today's festival-goers.

Diwali related spending has certainly evolved over the years, observes Shivam Ranjan, Head of Marketing – APAC, Motorola. “With online marketplaces starting the festive sales almost a month before Diwali, the consumer buying season starts early. Thus, it is important for brands to start early, ensuring they are able to build awareness, consideration and purchase intent for the products even before the discounts/ offers are announced. Brands that can do so are more likely to drive higher conversion during the sale period versus those who are only driving the communication basis discounted pricing during the sale period. Due to the dominance of the eCommerce platforms in early festive period, we have seen the trend to over-index on digital platforms, specifically with heavy investments on search and display properties on key e-commerce platforms to leverage the exponential growth in eCommerce traffic generated for their mega festive events,” he adds.

Amazon has announced that its month-long Great Indian Festival (GIF) 2023 has seen the best-ever shopping celebrations for its customers, sellers and brand partners across the length and breadth of the country. The e-commerce giant has unveiled its remarkable achievement with the conclusion of the month-long Great Indian Festival (GIF) 2023. Kicking off on October 8, 2023 with 24 hours of exclusive Prime early access, the Amazon Great Indian Festival 2023 emerged as a spectacular showcase of innovation, value, and sheer delight for customers, sellers, and brand partners alike, spanning the vast expanse of India. Over the course of this grand festival, more than 5,000 new launches from top-tier brands were made accessible to customers, replete with irresistible offers spanning a diverse array of product categories. From cutting-edge smartphones and premium electronics to high-quality televisions, captivating books, health and personal care essentials, trendy fashion items, rugged luggage, tasteful home decor, and fitness gear, the Amazon Great Indian Festival 2023 truly had something for every shopper’s heart’s desire.

“We are humbled to be a part of customer’s festivities and witnessed a record of more than 110 crore visits with 40 lakh+ new customers shopping on Amazon India for the first time. This festive season, 80% of our customers who shopped came from Tier 2-3 cities, reiterating our strong capabilities of delivering across all serviceable pin codes in India. We also saw the highest ever Prime sign ups in a single day this season along with the highest seller participation along with 5,000 new launches from top brands. A heartfelt thank you to our customers, brand and bank partners, sellers, and delivery associates, for making this the biggest celebration ever in the history of our operations in India,” says Manish Tiwary, Country Manager, India Consumer Business, Amazon.

In recent years, Diwali-related ad spending has exhibited a noticeable shift, reflecting the dynamic nature of consumer behavior and the advertising landscape, notes Tusharr Kumar, COO, OML Entertainment.

Notably, he adds, there has been a consistent shift towards digital platforms, reflecting the growing influence of online channels in consumer engagement. Brands are increasingly diversifying their advertising budgets to include a significant portion for digital marketing, leveraging social, influencer, and targeted online campaigns to reach a wider and more engaged audience.

“Moreover, a trend has emerged where brands are focusing on creating integrated marketing campaigns that seamlessly blend online and offline experiences. This integration allows brands to maximise their reach and engagement, creating a holistic brand experience for consumers during the festive season. We’re also seeing brands wanting to do personalised and interactive advertising strategies, enabling them to connect with consumers on a more individualised level. This helps drive customer engagement and brand loyalty during the festive season – also creating unique campaigns,” adds Tusharr Kumar.

Citing an example, he says that he recently saw a World Cup campaign, where Brubeck Bakery, a bakery chain from Jamshedpur, put out a video with Ranveer Singh and Chris Gayle, asking their customers to order from them. “Zomato enabled this custom video for restaurant partners and I think this is genius. It lets smaller businesses make an impact on digital with direct connection to sales. I think we’ll see more of this during the festival season as well.”

What we have observed is that advertisers tend to get active during Diwali season, offering multiple discounts and sales, says Neelesh Pednekar, Co-Founder & Head Of Digital Media at Social Pill. He further adds, “Brands like Flipkart, Jio and Amazon lead this sale season with Big Billion Days, Sabse Saste Din and Great Indian Shopping Festival, respectively. In the past few years post-Covid, advertisers have started riding the eCommerce sale wave. Most brands have started offering a 25% onward discounting on their respective stores before the Diwali session starts. Advertising spends have seen to spike up leading from September onwards right until New Years. We’ve seen spikes of advertising budgets in the range of 1.5x to even 7x during the aforementioned months. Most of these budgets are towards Meta while Google takes about 20% to 30% of the increase on an average.”

Pednekar points out that sales tend to spike up during the festive season, adding, “The discounts and sale could be a partial contributor to the fact; however, the shopping intent of Indian users tends to spike during this season. We have seen a significant increase in conversions from eCommerce stores that promise a quick delivery. We can infer that the customers seek and expect faster delivery and better prices apart from colourful and eye-catching creatives.”

A transformation

As the festival of lights, Diwali illuminates our lives each year, it also casts a revealing light on the shifting sands of consumer behaviour. In the backdrop of tradition and cultural significance, modern-day Diwali celebrations are undergoing a change. The confluence of tradition and technology has brought about intriguing changes in the way consumers observe this auspicious occasion, particularly in their shopping habits and preferences.

Consumer behaviour during Diwali has undergone a significant transformation, driven by the increasing digitization of shopping experiences, observes Tusharr Kumar. According to him, there has been a remarkable surge in online shopping activities, with consumers favouring convenience and accessibility provided by e-commerce giants like Myntra, Amazon.in, and Flipkart. This trend was supercharged by the pandemic, which has prompted a shift towards online shopping and home delivery services.

Moreover, adds Tusharr Kumar, consumers are actively seeking unique and personalised shopping experiences, prompting leading brands such as Myntra to curate specialised collections tailored to individual preferences and lifestyle choices. Myntra’s introduction of personalised style recommendations and interactive shopping features has enhanced the overall shopping experience, allowing consumers to discover and purchase products that align with their distinct tastes and preferences.

Shivam Ranjan takes the case of the Indian smartphone market, which is expected to see an increased premiumisation trend, where aspects like design and colours will be given a stronger weightage by consumers. “This becomes even more important for consumers in the festive season as it is all about dressing up and celebrating. We are able to tap into this demand with our disruptive partnership with Pantone, they are not only helping us curate colours, but they also input on our designs. We are also the first brand to launch the world’s first phone in the Pantone colour of 2023 – Viva Magenta with motorola edge 30 fusion and we have been offering unique Panton curated colours across our launches including the bestselling Motorola edge 40 neo. In terms of consumer shopping habits, according to a market study, 90% of consumers discovered new products on YouTube, and 64% of consumers in India made purchases based on an influencer or online review. This shows that consumers are becoming digital first across tiers. The e-commerce sector in India is experiencing consistent growth, driven by the widespread use of smartphones and high-speed internet specifically for low to medium value purchases,” he adds.

Holistically, there are two types of advertisers in the industry, observes Neelesh Pednekar. According to him, the large brands that target a larger chunk of the market, these are primarily the big fishes who buy traditional media. This segment primarily focuses on traditional advertising while in the past few years they have also started investing in digital mediums. However, he adds, the digital budgets are in a smaller proportion to the traditional media budgets.

“The other type of advertisers are primarily digital advertisers who go all out during festive seasons like Diwali and extend their outreach to traditional media. The first category of advertisers generally deploys multiple channels of sales where online is the smallest contributor. Hence, despite the transparency of data, they see a spike in sales when it comes to traditional media as the brand outreach and recall is higher. The second category of advertisers prefer digital channels due to the traceability of campaigns and primarily because the sales channels are digital (e-commerce). The traditional advertisers leverage digital to amplify their campaign communication while the second type of advertisers use traditional as an extension of their digital channels,” says Pednekar.

Tech influence

In the age of digital transformation, even the most time-honored traditions and celebrations are not immune to the influence of technology. The digitalisation of Diwali marketing and promotions has ushered in a new era, one that significantly impacts traditional advertising channels.

Let’s navigate the changing currents of Diwali marketing and promotions and the intriguing consequences they have for conventional advertising mediums. It is also important to unveil the innovative strategies that forward-thinking brands are embracing to thrive and remain competitive in this digital landscape during Diwali.

Digitalisation of marketing enables brands to make real-time changes, test and learn quickly, drive better measurability and a personalized marketing approach, says Shivam Ranjan. He observes that since agility is extremely important during the festive period to drive business outcomes, digital does become a channel of choice for many brands.

“Having said that, traditional marketing drives strong brand impact, and is important to drive salience across both online and retail consumers by reaching audiences that are behind pay-walls and difficult to reach on digital platforms. Further, even traditional channels have been evolving, for example Digital OOH and CTV which are not necessarily competing with their traditional counterparts but complimenting them,” he adds.

“Our strategy has been to use an integrated marketing approach, using a mix of both traditional and digital channels to base the phase of the festive campaign. Our allocation of marketing budget, thus is top-funnel and mid-funnel heavy initially, transitioning towards a mid-bottom funnel approach during the sale period. Digital video, CTV, linear TV and DOOH are key platforms to drive reach and impact from a top funnel perspective, while SEM, programmatic, influencer marketing, e-commerce platform display and search drives mid and bottom funnel objectives along with retail visibility,” says Shivam Ranjan.

Sustainability

In a world increasingly focused on sustainability and conscious consumerism, the ethos of Diwali, with its emphasis on light over darkness and renewal, has taken on new meaning. Brands have recognized this shift in consumer values and are weaving sustainability and conscious consumption into the very fabric of their Diwali advertising campaigns. Brands are embracing these values in innovative ways, creating advertising campaigns that resonate with eco-conscious consumers.

Sustainability and conscious consumerism are gaining prominence; brands are increasingly integrating these values into their Diwali advertising campaigns, emphasising the importance of responsible and ethical practices in their marketing strategies, says Tusharr Kumar. This shift reflects a growing consumer preference for brands that actively contribute to social and environmental well-being.

“The promotion of ethically sourced and locally made products has gained traction among consumers seeking to support fair trade and responsible production practices. Brands have collaborated with local artisans and craftsmen to curate exclusive Diwali collections that celebrate traditional craftsmanship and cultural heritage. By highlighting the stories behind these products and the positive impact of their purchase on local communities, brands have successfully fostered a sense of social responsibility and cultural appreciation among consumers. Organisations are also now buying gifts for their employees/ stakeholders from NGOs and social organisations that have direct links to artisans and craftsmen. This shift in consumer receptiveness has seen start-ups like LittleLocal.in, a D2C platform for ethically sourced products, create corporate gifts that are entirely curated with conscious consumerism in mind,” says Kumar.

In response to the growing demand for sustainable and environmentally conscious products, Amazon.in has amplified its efforts to promote eco-friendly product lines and encourage sustainable consumption practices during the Diwali season. The platform has facilitated the accessibility of a diverse range of sustainable products, empowering consumers to make environmentally responsible purchasing decisions and contribute to a greener festive celebration, he adds.

ESG is an important pillar in our sustainable growth strategy, and we are committed to it, says Shivam Ranjan. “ESG is a holistic approach for us versus being just a component of our festive campaigns. We have not only enabled recycling of electronic waste for our products, but have also taken a step further by introducing eco packaging. The packaging on our edge franchise devices for example is designed to be plastic-free and incorporates 80% recycled materials. The paper used in the packaging is certified by either the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) or the Programme for the Endorsement of Forest Certification (PEFC). Additionally, the insert included in the packaging is 100% compostable, further reducing waste. We utilise soybean ink for printing on the packaging, it is an environmentally friendly alternative. Through this initiative, we have successfully reduced the amount of plastic used in the products and eliminated approximately 9.6 tons of plastic from operations and saved 20,000 pounds of coal,” he adds.

With sustainability being the new trend, brands are moving towards conscious Diwali celebrations which have been seen in their advertising communications such as “Green Diwali” and “No Noise Diwali,” says Neelesh Pednekar.

“Having said that, brands are still very sceptical about going all guns blazing about conscious consumerism since crossing the smallest line can result in a backfire and with social media being the beast it is, it’s very difficult to control trolls and negative reactions. Sustainability in festive celebrations, on the other hand, has been observed to be adopted a lot by luxury fashion brands, which not only speaks about how they adhere to the norms, but also as a give back to the society. This seems to fly very well with the luxury shopper segment, which works like a boost to the impulse purchase behaviour,” he concludes.